Highest headline inflation in 5½ years   

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Consumer price index Inflation: The Consumer Price Index – the main measure of inflation in Australia – rose by 0.3 per cent in the March quarter (consensus: 0.2 per cent).

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Petrol prices hit 15-year low

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Singapore gasoline prices at 21-year lows Weekly Petrol Prices; China data Petrol prices: According to the Australian Institute of Petroleum, the national average price of unleaded petrol fell by 6.6

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CommSec State of the States – April 2020

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Overall results How are Australia’s states and territories performing? Each quarter CommSec attempts to find out by analysing eight key indicators: economic growth; retail spending; equipment investment; unemployment; construction work

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Record lift in retail sales; Job ads slide

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Retail trade; Skilled job vacancies; New home sales Retail trade: ‘Preliminary’ retail trade rose by a record 8.2 per cent in March, after a 0.5 per cent gain in February.

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Confidence returning; Tracking COVID-19 impact

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Consumer confidence; Spending; RBA Board minutes; Payrolls Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating rose by 7.7 per cent to 84.2 points. CBA Household Spending Intentions (HSI): According

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Australian governments respond to COVID-19

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Economic issues Federal, State and Territory response: It’s not easy keeping up with all the economic support spending unveiled by Australian governments in response to COVID-19. Here we attempt to

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Aussie jobs market: The calm before the storm

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Labour force Employment rose by 5,900 jobs in March – after increasing by 25,600 in February (previously estimated at +26,700). Full-time jobs fell by 400 with part-time jobs up by

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Aussie sharemarket: Where do we stand?

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Sharemarket update Australian sharemarket: The ASX 200 index has fallen around 29 per cent from the February 20 high. Long-term performance: In 144 years of calendar-year records, the Australian sharemarket

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Fastest growth in apartment prices in 4 years – Food and beverages demand lifts Aussie manufacturing

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Home prices; Manufacturing Home prices: The CoreLogic Home Value Index of national home prices rose by 0.7 per cent in March to be up 7.5 per cent on the year.

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Chinese manufacturing activity hits 2½-year high – strongest business credit growth in 2½ years

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Consumer confidence; Private sector credit; New home sales; China data Consumer confidence: The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating fell by 9.6 per cent to a record low of 65.3

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